Healthy Recipes from the Kitchen of NYU's Food Science and Technology class

Each semester, all members of the FS&T class participate in a group product development exercise to create outstanding food and snack recipes that not only taste great but also offer health benefits in one of the following food minus/food plus categories: less sodium (impacting hypertension), less fat (cardiovascular disease), less sugar (diabetes, carbonyl stress) and more/added functional ingredient (general wellness).

The goal for each team is to identify the leading commercial food item for a selected food category and to develop a recipe that matches that item in flavor, color and texture while incorporating a health benefit. Each group is assigned a food category to work with, and a health promoting challenge. A sensory triangle test is used to evaluate all finished products and identify the group that has the most number of panelists who are unable to correctly identify the odd sample among three presented.

Many of these finished recipes not only excel in flavor but also take on a specific healthy direction that represents an improvement in the food to which they were matched. These are not healthy foods, per se, but healthy improvements of commercially sold foods.

The intent of this blog is to post all the new recipes developed in this class while highlighting the simplicity and ease of developing healthier meals without compromising great flavor. It is not intended to promote or suggest healthy guidelines, but only to address a specific goal in a total health program.

The concept was conceived by Jess Cording who also displays her team's efforts in her online journal.